28 Aug 2013

Communing with Bears

Occasionally there is an event in your life that you will remember forever and we experienced one last night.

The weather conditions haven't been ideal lately, as there is a low pressure system to the south causing quite strong easterly winds. There was some debate as to whether we should attempt a landing last night but we decided to proceed and headed inshore. We had seen a couple of Polar Bears asleep quite close to the beach and cautiously approached the first one by Zodiac. The mature male stirred and finally woke. Rather than walk away he came down towards us to investigate and we all enjoyed watching him as he watched us. Not to be outdone by his companion, the second bear (also a mature male) ambled onto the beach. He was very curious and came right to water’s edge, just a few metres away from our Zodiacs. To our delight he showed no aggression and no fear, he simply wanted to check us out. After about an hour he ambled back into the tundra and lay down to sleep again. We reluctantly returned to the ship, where we relived this amazing encounter through photographs.

 

This morning we came to Cape Thomas on the SW corner of Wrangel Island to exchange one Overlander party for another. These folk have taken the option of spending a couple of nights ashore. We are now heading back north around the island and have encountered fog and stronger winds, but that is what makes this place so special. Last night communing with Polar Bears, this morning Snowy Owls and this afternoon fog.